AP photo
UMass-Lowell’s Shayne Thompson celebrates his goal with teammates during a 6-1 win over Wisconsin in the NCAA Northeast Regional Friday in Manchester.

MANCHESTER — For the second year in a row, the University of Massachusetts-Lowell men’s hockey team is a game away from the Frozen Four.

Lowell, one of three Hockey East teams in the 16-team NCAA tournament, was a 6-1 winner over Wisconsin on Friday night in the Northeast Regional semifinals before a feisty but less-than-capacity crowd at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Playing just 33 miles from their campus, the River Hawks overcame a slow start but got 31 saves from goalie Connor Hellebuyck. The Badgers held 32-26 shot advantage, but six different players scored for the River Hawks.

“I thought we got better as the game went along,” Lowell coach Norm Bazin said. “We did feel we were better than we showed in the first period. I think we converted a couple of odd-man rushes, and more importantly, we (had) some timely penalty killing.”

Hellebuyck’s biggest save of the night came on a penalty shot taken by the Badgers’ Jefferson Dahl at 16:11 of the opening frame.

Dahl was trying to go top shelf on Hellebuyck but fired the puck right into the Lowell goalie’s midsection.

“He came in down the right side and kind of took down the angle,” Hellebuyck said. “It was a waiting game and I just outwaited him.”

No. 1 Lowell (27-10-2) will face No. 2 New Hampshire in tonight’s regional final at 6:30 p.m.The Badgers, ranked fourth in the region, saw their season end at 22-13-7. Badgers goalie Joel Rumpel made 20 saves.

“It seemed like we were almost trying too hard,” Badgers coach Mike Eaves said. “But mid-point of the third period, it was 3-1 and (we) had a great scoring chance. ... We battled.”

Lowell, which swept Hockey East’s regular-season and playoff titles, got on the board at 7:11 of the first period on a goal by Joseph Pendenza, and took a 1-0 lead into the intermission. Pendenza carried the puck from the neutral zone and fired a wrister that went past the outstretched leg of Rumpel.

“I just went through the zone to give A.J. (White) a little space,” Pendenza said. “He ended up staying there (and) I just grabbed the puck. I saw their (defenseman) trying to close me down so I just put my head down and let one rip.”

The River Hawks expanded their lead to 3-0 with a pair of goals in the middle frame, one by Christian Folin at 3:12 and one by Shayne Thompson at 14:08.

“We knew he could contibute,” Bazin said about Folin. “He’s been pretty good about himself and he’s finding goals.”

Wisconsin finally got on the board at 8:19 of the third period when Nic Kerdiles lit the lamp on a shot from high in the slot to cut Lowell’s lead to 3-1. The goal game on the Badgers’ fifth power play of the night and on one of just three shots Wisconsin managed on the night with the man advantage. It also extended Kerdiles’s scoring streak to 12 games.

Any hope of a Badger comeback was squelched shortly after, when Lowell’s Derek Arnold made it 4-1 at 13:56, restoring the River Hawks’ three-goal advantage. Lowell added an empty-net goal at 19:12 to make it 5-1, then scored again with three seconds left with Rumpel back in the net.

“I believed in this group from Day 1,” Bazin said. “We kept plugging away and stuck to the system and we got favorable results and we’re very thankful for that.”